Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Sunday, September 19, 2010

The weather was cool enough by dinner time to enjoy our new picnic table without be harassed by yellow jackets.

Of course, cooking with Addy often looks a lot more like cooking for Addy. Making dinner has become a balancing act of timing Elena's naps, the wishes of an active creative preschooler and my desire to put good quality fresh homemade food on the table.
Weekends are easier since Chad is home to grill or otherwise take over cooking. Saturday we had a busy morning watching the Broomfield Days parade and then spent the afternoon watching Nebraska beat Washington. Elena, at 7 weeks, really likes to be held so my hands were busy in the late afternoon and Addy was keeping Chad hopping as they planted a few new plants around the yard. Chad was going to grill the chicken but I needed to come up with some sides.

I got Elena settled in the Ergo which gave me just enough time to thin slice a few potatoes, half an onion, and a couple of cloves of garlic. I folded these into two foil packets topped with butter, salt, pepper and a couple of sprigs of rosemary. (I love the smell of rosemary and Addy loves to pick it from the garden.)

Chad grilled the packets along side the chicken for about 30 minutes over indirect heat. The potatoes were soft and yet just enough browned to have good texture and flavor and Addy was proud to taste the rosemary she had contributed.

These packets could have been prepared earlier in the afternoon or even prepared in advance of a camping trip. I think the potatoes might discolor if done earlier but as far as I know that doesn't change the flavor.

What are your favorite combinations and tips for grilled foil packets?

Friday, September 17, 2010

What's really amazing is that, after taking an almost two month hiatus, Addy is napping again. She heads to her bed happily and easily now and sleeps for over an hour. Elena also seems to enjoy a good long afternoon snooze. This gives me time to straighten up the house and sit down and relax with a nice cup of tea.

Lately I've been enjoying fair trade loose leaf organic Earl Grey from Arbor Teas with local honey and milk. Arbor Tea says their packaging is backyard compostable. I'll let you know in a couple of months if the bag is still in our pile or not.

Earlier this week Addy, Keenan and I made a quick and delicious semi healthy cookie that you see above on my snack plate. These fruit and oat squares are quick and kid friendly to make and good enough to take with you or serve if you have short notice on a potluck or play date. We used whole wheat flour and raspberry jam that we made last fall. Addy is in love with sprinkles so they decorated the crumb topping with sprinkles.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Cooking with Adelina has changed quite a bit over the past months. Not only was our life busier but the exhaustion of pregnancy had me napping rather than cooking or blogging. We did plenty of cooking and baking during the months not accounted for here but it was many of our tried and true recipes that have already made the blog and the imputus to document and write up new recipes has just not been there for me. Now that baby Elena has arrived and we begin to settle into the routine of a family of four I plan to update this site more often.

I have found that as Addy has grown more independent, she has been less likely to follow my suggestions of activities in the kitchen. But perhaps as fall and winter keep us indoors more we'll pick up our cooking.
Last Wednesday we made a fall inspired Apple Bran muffins from Mothering.com. We didn't add the seeds/nuts and substituted part water for the apple juice. They lasted well in the fridge and taste best fresh out of the oven or toasted with butter.

Addy ate every bit of this yummy lunch.

Addy wants to do more and more of the measuring and pouring on her own.

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Although her accuracy is not great she handles a small broom and dustpan well. As she has gotten older I find it important to include her in the clean up as well as the fun parts of mixing and tasting.